Australians to face five-year jail or hefty fine if they return home from India
Melbourne, May 1: Threatening a five-year jail term or hefty fine, the Australian government temporarily barred its citizens from entering the country if they happened to be in India within 14 days of their intended arrival.
The decision was announced after a meeting of the National Cabinet on Friday and will come into force from Monday.
The move aims at keeping the coronavirus spread in check in Australia as India is facing a surge in infections cases.
The decision was based on the proportion of overseas travellers in quarantine in Australia, who have contracted the infection in India, according to Health Minister Greg hunt.
Failure to comply with an emergency determination under the Biosecurity Act, 2015 may incur a civil penalty of 300 penalty units, five years' imprisonment or both, an official statement from the ministry said.
The decision will be revised on May 15 following advice from the chief medical officer (CMO).
The CMO will consider the epidemiology in India and likely impacts on Australia's quarantine capacity, and provide a further expert assessment of the public health risk to Australia to inform a proportionate response, it said.
The ministry statement said it is important that the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine system are protected and the number of COVID-19 cases in isolation facilities is reduced to a manageable level.
The statement also expressed solidarity with India, saying, Our hearts go out to the people of India and our Indian-Australian community. The friends and family of those in Australia are in extreme risk.
Australia will also provide to India emergency medical supplies, including over 1,000 non-invasive ventilators.
Apart from that, it has offered to supply a significant number of personal protective equipment (PPE), one million surgical masks, 100,000 surgical gowns, 100,000 goggles, 100,000 pairs of gloves and 20,000 face shields.
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Mamata alleges BJP disrupted her Bhabanipur rally, Suvendu claims 'she's nervous'
Kolkata (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cut short her speech at a rally in her Bhabanipur constituency, alleging that the BJP was deliberately playing loud music from a nearby public meeting.
A peeved Banerjee said despite having the required permission of the Election Commission, her rally in Chakraberia was disrupted by the BJP, "who want to capture Bengal by intimidation and threat".
"It is not possible for me to go ahead with this meeting. If they can do such a thing in my constituency, imagine how undemocratic the BJP is. If they behave like this, I have to take legal action," she said.
"This is an insult, humiliation. BJP is stepping on our toes to instigate trouble. Not possible to address the gathering in this situation. I am leaving the stage. Please vote for me in your protest," she added.
Banerjee was then seen calling someone over and venting her grievances.
Before leaving the stage, she said, "I will hold a rally tomorrow at the same spot."
TMC supporters then rushed towards the BJP rally, which was later addressed by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, but security personnel intervened and prevented the situation from escalating.
TMC workers later staged a demonstration outside the local police station and filed a complaint, alleging that the BJP violated the model code of conduct.
A senior TMC leader said another complaint will also be lodged with the Election Commission.
Asked about Banerjee's allegations, Adhikari told reporters after the rally he held nearby, "Her reaction shows she is nervous about the imminent loss."
"There was no violence, no obstruction in her meeting and her behaviour shows her nervousness. On May 4, people of Bhabanipur will celebrate the victory of the BJP," he claimed, alleging that the TMC also tried to disrupt his meeting by playing loud music.
South Kolkata's Bhabanipur, one of the battleground seats in the West Bengal elections, will vote in the second phase on April 29.
